View/Open

Abstract

A transformation has occurred in the humanities during the past four
decades which has permitted the humanistic disciplines to reintegrate with each other
and with the social sciences. The gradual absorption of Saussurean linguistics has
brought about a profound change in our understanding of the relationship between
language and the world. This, in turn, has resulted in an age of theory and in the
production of metalanguages which reinforce the connective power of the humanistic
disciplines. Linguistic models have replaced models borrowed from the natural
sciences in partial recognition of the fact that culture is discursively constructed and
rooted in specifically historical situations. Imagery, theory, method, and style are
borrowed from humanistic disciplines to aid the social sciences as the natural
sciences provide fewer relevant models. We are moving toward a new philology or
the study of culture as text.

Preferred Citation

Casey, Beth A. "The quiet revolution: The transformation and reintegration of the humanities." Issues in Integrative Studies 4 (1986): 71-92.